Author draws from her life for new book’s main character

Published: Wednesday, March 13, 2013 at 02:36 PM.

HAVELOCK— The main character in Gloria Strong’s new book is largely built around aspects of the author’s own life.

Strong, of Havelock, author of the novel “Forbidden Valley of the Wolves,” is holding a series of book signings in the area beginning Thursday.

The 107-page novel that she describes as an action/adventure/love story is about a couple named Kara and Jake, whose marriage is on the rocks. They take a camping excursion that leaves them lost in the wilderness. After surviving encounters with poachers and wolves, they are later rescued.

“Kara’s character is a lot of me in here,” Strong said in her Havelock home. “In Kara, you see a lot of the things that I learned as a child. You see the pain that I went through with a marriage that was having difficulty surviving. You see the knowledge that my grandfather passed on to me about fishing.

“My father was a hunter. My uncles were hunters. We went hunting every year. The whole family went. I taught my boys to shoot rifles. I put them in horseback riding on base. We’d go to the turkey shoots on base because we didn’t have money for turkeys and hams for Christmas and Thanksgiving.”

Strong, a Christian, said she drew from a myriad of life experiences in telling Kara and Jake’s story, the theme for which came to her in a dream 23 years ago while she was in a facility battling bipolar disorder.

Strong came to Havelockin 1971 when she married Richard M. Strong, a Marine gunnery sergeant. He had been a flight line chief for EA-6A Intruder squadrons and a Vietnamveteran who was exposed to Agent Orange. He died of cancer in 2009.

HAVELOCK— The main character in Gloria Strong’s new book is largely built around aspects of the author’s own life.

Strong, of Havelock, author of the novel “Forbidden Valley of the Wolves,” is holding a series of book signings in the area beginning Thursday.

The 107-page novel that she describes as an action/adventure/love story is about a couple named Kara and Jake, whose marriage is on the rocks. They take a camping excursion that leaves them lost in the wilderness. After surviving encounters with poachers and wolves, they are later rescued.

“Kara’s character is a lot of me in here,” Strong said in her Havelock home. “In Kara, you see a lot of the things that I learned as a child. You see the pain that I went through with a marriage that was having difficulty surviving. You see the knowledge that my grandfather passed on to me about fishing.

“My father was a hunter. My uncles were hunters. We went hunting every year. The whole family went. I taught my boys to shoot rifles. I put them in horseback riding on base. We’d go to the turkey shoots on base because we didn’t have money for turkeys and hams for Christmas and Thanksgiving.”

Strong, a Christian, said she drew from a myriad of life experiences in telling Kara and Jake’s story, the theme for which came to her in a dream 23 years ago while she was in a facility battling bipolar disorder.

Strong came to Havelockin 1971 when she married Richard M. Strong, a Marine gunnery sergeant. He had been a flight line chief for EA-6A Intruder squadrons and a Vietnamveteran who was exposed to Agent Orange. He died of cancer in 2009.

Strong said that before he died, he told her to finish her book project, which she finally did in 2011.

Strong has three children, 10 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Strong will be at Mykonos Grill in Morehead City from 2 to 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday, at Cups-N-Cones on Fontana Boulevard in Havelock from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.on Saturday and at Have-A-Lot Shoppes in the Westbrooke Shopping Centerin Havelock from 1to 3 p.m.on Sunday for book signings.

“Forbidden Valley of the Wolves” can be purchased online at Amazon.com or at the author’s own website atwww.gimartinstrong.com. The cost is $13 for paperback or $29 in hardback. An ebook version is also available for electronic tablet users.